Resistance training is one of the oldest forms of physical training known to humankind. Egyptian tombs show pictures of exercise equipment made with sandbags and diagrams of swinging and throwing exercises. Aristotle and Plato both spoke of the virtues of physical development. It is also known that ancient European tribes used primitive resistance training equipment.
The first dumbbells were created in the 18th century by placing a rod between two church bells from which the clappers had been removed. Because the bells were silent, they were called “dumbbells,” Indian clubs and kettlebells became popular in the 19th century. Over the decades, weight-training equipment continued to evolve until the invention of plate-loaded barbells in the early 20th century. In spite of its long history, users of resistance training equipment tended to be athletes like professional strongmen, who performed feats of strength at exhibitions and contests. Even after the invention of plate-loaded barbells, interest in resistance training tended to be limited to strength athletes, such as power lifters and bodybuilders. Athletic coaches tended to look askance at resistance training as a serious training methodology, fearing that developing muscular strength could actually hamper athletic performance.
Although the professional sports world remained suspicious of resistance training, its popularity spread among the population with the result that resistance trailing equipment was widely available in gyms and health clubs patronized by ordinary citizens. Additionally, resistance training equipment could be easily purchased in sporting goods stores. The widespread popularity of resistance training has caused the professional sports world to re-evaluate it as a training methodology, such that, now, most athletes have a resistance component as part of their training, even athletes such as gymnasts and swimmers.
However, very little has been done to widen the scope of improvement in resistance training. Prior arts, specifically apparels, generally are more dependent on placebo effect, providing minor to moderate benefits to the wearer. There lies no training or exercise apparel that induces the notion of ‘stress’ (otherwise, ‘weight of Gravity’) on the wearer. In other words, prior arts doesn't implement a fully functional fitness trainer that exercises or trains the body using its natural movement, e.g. walking, running, sitting, everyday body movements, as well athletics natural motion movements. None of the apparatus uses the fundamental movements of the body that is put to do the ordinary cores, into a resistance workout that strengthens the body and is facilitated through apparel. Resistance exercise requires more effort, thereby inducing more energy into the workout which ultimately increases the cardiovascular, respiratory and burns calorie.
In addition to the practice of lifting heavy weights, resistance training also involves the practice of deliberately making movement more difficult and challenging by performing movement exercise under various loads. Additionally, weighted garments, such as vests, enjoy a degree of popularity. Such garments typically include a number of pockets or pouches in which weights may be placed to add resistance in controlled increments. Additionally, systems of wearable mechanical actuators have been used to provide resistance to movement of a wearer. A processor determines an amount of resistance to apply using each of the actuators based on a vertical direction and sends instructions to the actuators. The instructions then cause the actuators to apply resistance to the wearer in a desired amount. Howbeit the process is cumbersome or are proved to be less versatile then that of air induced gravity resistance system.
Taking into account the pros of resistance training and the cons that the prior arts apparel have, there is a standing need for a training tool that provides for a whole body training garment which is embedded with features that supports external resistance to the wearer muscles and that can be controlled or operated by the wearer.